The Book in 3 Sentences

  1. Consciousness is the only undoubtedly real thing in the universe, and one’s relationship with its contents (thoughts, sights, emotions) determines the quality of their experience.
  2. Religion is a flawed and acutely dangerous path to spirituality that must be replaced by a more experiential, rational approach to contemplation.
  3. Constant identification with the contents of consciousness, namely thoughts, shapes the illusion of the self that is responsible for much of human suffering.

How I Discovered It

I’ve listened to several podcasts that Sam Harris has appeared in where he has mentioned this book. He frequently quotes passages in the Waking Up app too.

How the Book Changed Me

Through Sam Harris’ works have I finally arrived at a point where meditation seems to be blending in with my usual experience. The feeling of total presence in the moment is not confined to the ten minutes I spend with my airpods plugged in at dawn. Instead, I have been unlocking momentary states of true insight into the contents of my experience, detaching from the patterns of thought that otherwise have left me distracted. Still, I struggle to retract into being an observer of thoughts when I most need it, particularly when I’m having conversations. That is when my anxious mind takes over.

Top Quotes

Ceaseless change is an unreliable basis for lasting fulfillment.

The fact that the universe is illuminated where you stand — that your thoughts and moods and sensations have a qualitative character in this moment — is a mystery, exceeded only by the mystery that there should be something rather than nothing in the first place

What you are calling “I” is itself a feeling that arises among the contents of consciousness. Consciousness is prior to it, a mere witness of it, and, therefore, free of it in principle

meditation is simply the ability to stop suffering in many of the usual ways, if only for a few moments at a time

Consciousness is the prior condition of every experience; the self or ego is an illusory appearance within it; look closely for what you are calling “I,” and the feeling of being a separate self will disappear; what remains, as a matter of experience, is a field of consciousness — free, undivided, and intrinsically uncontaminated by its ever-changing contents.

Notes

Spirituality

  • The mind is all we have with us in each moment and thus determines the quality of experience
  • Religious dogmas are not prerequisites to states of exceptional love, fulfillment, an insight; they are an archaic and dangerous path devoid of empirical truth
  • Buddhism without its myths is a science of experience (Vipassana)
  • No self at the center of consciousness
  • Noticing and ceasing to identify with patterns of thought is the surest way to freedom in the present
  • Meditation is the source of the most durable form of satisfaction

Consciousness

  • Experience is the precusor to any and all interactions and contemplations
  • Emerges from physical interactions but cannot be reduced to it; introspection is the best way to seek to understand consciousness
  • Brain is split into two hemispheres and thus consciousness itself is divisible
    • Experiments done on patients with a severed corpus callosum demonstrate conflicting behaviors explained by the independent roles of each hemisphere
  • The unconscious influences thoughts, feelings, and actions yet consciousness is the only lever to the quality of experience

Self

  • There is no seat of consciousness - an illusion that disappears upon close attention
  • No neurological basis for a unified self that is in control; we are the products of a set of discrete unconscious structures and processes
  • Sense of self emerges from experience but consciousness is free from it
  • Theory of Mind - perceptions of others’ mental states and of our existence in their experience contributes to the feeling of self

Meditation

  • Brings to light a form of well-being inherent to consciousness
  • Noticing thoughts as transitory appearances in consciousness
  • Complete acceptance of the present
  • Insights can be had at any point in practice and may last for moments
  • Dzogchen - Tibetan practice emphasizing the selflessness of awareness and the lack of a subject-object dualism
  • Douglas Harding’s On Having No Head offers a glimpse into the non-duality of consciousness

Gurus and Substances

  • Near Death Experiences (NDA) can only be confirmed if no brain activity is present
    • Thinking independent of the brain would also prove mind-body dualism
  • DMT is a naturally occurring neurotransmitter with a psychedelic effect of the least time
  • Psychedelics impact the serotonin pathway, and not dopamine which is why they’re not addictive
  • Psychedelics demonstrate the brain’s potential, pushing the subject to a realization of the full extent of consciousness
  • Nevertheless, practices in ordinary waking states of consciousness are still sufficient to attain lasting states of fulfillment and insight